Opposition leader Brad Battin has double-downed on controversially addressing media at a homicide investigation in Dandenong on Tuesday 19 August.
Upon hearing about the incident on radio, Battin reportedly dropped by and spoke on Victoria’s crime woes.
Metres away, a 39-year-old man’s covered body lay behind police tape on the corner of Princes Highway and Potter Street.
Police later confirmed the man had been stabbed in a nearby flat, fled onto the street where he collapsed in front of a passing police patrol about 5am.
Despite the efforts of paramedics, he died at the scene.
Battin has since reportedly vowed to keep attending crime scenes to drive his message, claiming the Government “ignores rising violent crime”.
“You’ve got to do it respectfully and we made sure of that,” he told Star News.
“All the press wasn’t done directly looking at the crime scene itself.
We’d spoken to the police there. We were in the public area. So I’d say I’m very comfortable with what happened.”
On social media, Battin has posted audio of an ABC interview under the title of ‘Why I went to Dandenong to discuss Labor’s knife crime epidemic’.
“I think it’s about time that we start highlighting the fact that this government needs to be held to account,” he told ABC.
“People are being stabbed in the street, we’re seeing people being stabbed in their homes.”
The next day, an adamant Battin spruiked his ‘break bail – face jail’ policy outside other crime scenes, including supermarkets targeted by armed robbers.
He’s also held press conferences at a Berwick marketplace, at the scene of two stabbings, he says.
Government MPs, including Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams, lambasted Battin for the Dandenong presser.
“Let me be clear, any politician who visits an active crime scene in order to conduct a political stunt risks disrupting and perhaps even compromising a police investigation,” Williams posted.
“The consequences of this could be profound.
“To put it bluntly, politicians who do this are putting themselves, and their own desire for media attention, ahead of the community’s desire for justice.
“They are putting themselves ahead of the important work of Victoria Police.
“And they are putting politics ahead of a family’s pain.”
Williams listed the Government’s initiatives including “introducing the toughest bail laws in the country”, Australia’s “first-ever machete ban” and a trial of electronic monitoring of youth offenders.
In response, Battin said: “If the Dandenong MP was worried about crime in her area, she would be fighting harder to get the police resources that they desperately need at Dandenong Police Station to ensure that they can have the proactive patrols to stop crime before it happens.”
Battin said he’d not received any concerns from the victim’s family.
“The only uproar was the Labor government and their ministers.
“Every single message I’ve seen and had sent to me was people saying that it’s about time we stand up and hold this government to account for the crime crisis that’s happening in Victoria.”
Police were seeking information on any suspicious people, vehicle or activity in the Potter Street area between 4.30am-5am on Tuesday 19 August.
Any information to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppersvic.com.au.
